Nirav’s bro in million-dollar fraud Nehal Modi, the younger brother of Nirav Modi, was on Saturday indicted in New York for fraudulently obtaining diamonds worth over $1.4 million Nehal told New York-based LLD Diamonds USA that he was pursuing a business relationship with Seatlle-based Costco Wholesale Corporation P9 He sought and obtained diamonds worth $2.6 million from LLD, saying he wanted to show them to Costco for a potential sale KALABURAGI  MONDAY  DECEMBER 21, 2020  `7.00  PAGES 28  CITY EDITION Nehal then pawned most of the diamonds to secure loans for personal use. The rest were sold to various retailers without LLD’s authorisation Though he paid back $1.2 million to LLD, a majority of the proceeds were spent for personal purposes CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Agitators plan to tap NDA Nepal House dissolved, fresh polls in May allies to pressure the BJP M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi Announce fresh programmes for public participation in protests; Tomar to meet farmer representatives in a day or two, says Shah H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh ON a day Union Home Minister Amit Shah indicated that his colleague and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will meet representatives of agitators in a day or two, farmer unions on Sunday decided to approach allies of the ruling NDA asking them to pressure the BJP to repeal the three contentious farm laws to end the deadlock. Addressing the media in Bolpur town of West Bengal, Amit Shah said: “I am not exactly aware of the timing but Tomar is likely to meet the representatives of farmers tomorrow or the day after to discuss their demands.” Also, in a gesture loaded with symbolism, PM Narendra Modi made an unscheduled visit the historic Gurdwara Rakabganj in Delhi to pay tribute to Guru Tegh Bahadur, a day after his death anniversary . Articulating the position of farmers after a meeting of all unions at Delhi’s border, Darshan Pal, president of the Krantikari Kisan Union, said, “We will approach NDA allies on December 26 and urge them to put pressure on the BJP to repeal the farm laws.’’ The farmer unions also decided to observe Kisan Diwas on December 23 as a day of fast, co-opting the public by urging them not to cook lunch that day FOREIGN DONATION GLARE ON PUNJAB UNION BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) leader Sukhdev Singh said, “We received an email from a Central agency through our bank seeking our registration details that allow us to receive donations from abroad.’’ He said it is part of the Centre’s pressure tactics to defeat the agitation so as to skip a meal in solidarity And on December 27, when . Modi’s Mann Ki Baat programme will be on, they intend to copy his Covid time strategy of urging people to beat thalis at home till the his speech is over, this time to show anti-BJP unity Also, Hary. ana will be forced to be toll free from December 25 to 27, Pal said. Besides, farmers will begin a relay hunger strike from Monday at all protest sites. As for commission agents, their Punjab Artiya Association decided to shut all mandis in the state indefinitely from Monday to protest against income tax raids on their premises since the last few days. Meanwhile, Gurlabh Singh, 22, who hailed from Bathinda district, returned from a protest site near the Delhi border and allegedly committed suicide after consuming some poiP7 sonous substance. OLI HAD NO CHOICE Oli has gradually lost his majority in Parliament, and in the party. So he did not have many options, said Dr Nihar R Nayak, a fellow at MP-IDSA @ Bengaluru THE new-found bonhomie between top leaders had fuelled speculation over the JDS inching closer to the BJP and even a , possible merger. On Sunday, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy rubbished all such talk, but gave enough indications on having issue-based understanding between the two parties. “There is no truth in specu- lation over any JDS MLAs joining BJP or its merger with our party,” the CM said in a statement issued on Sunday. The JDS has only extended its support to the BJP in moving a noconfidence motion against the Legislative Council chairman but had opposed the Anti-Cow Slaughter Bill, the CM pointed out and added that Kumaraswamy had made it clear that they will not support Anti-Cow Slaughter Bill. He reiterated that it will be implemented by GRAM PANCHAYAT POLLS Candidate’s promise: Win = development, Lose = expose graft D E V A R A J B H I R E H A L L I @ Tumakuru THIS gram panchayat candidate will not go down without a fight. Even if she loses! And with an unusual manifesto which is grabbing eyeballs, she’s all the rage on social media too. Her manifesto even managed to catch the attention of Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar. Meet Gangamma H, a Dalit, who is contesting from not one, but two gram Phase 1 panchayat seats — Kalkere and Doddatomorrow guni in Hebburu Gram Panchayat, just The first phase of to be safe. While she’s pitted against two the GP polls will men in Kalkere, she will be taking on five be held on men in Doddaguni, which are General Tuesday. Voters category seats. And what are her poll promises? If she are mostly looking forward with hope wins, she has listed development works of having better like getting the title deed done in a temroads, houses and ple’s name, building a platform at a peelocal employment pal tree (aralikatte), constructing a road opportunities. P4 as per the map, and a good drain to ensure free flow of rainwater. Well, what happens if she loses? She warns that she will get the BPL ration cards of 25 ‘undeserving’ families cancelled, get the pensions of 40 families under different schemes cancelled ‘for giving false information’, develop a graveyard as per the old records and evict 11 families ‘who have encroached upon government land’. In a footnote, she has buttressed her claims, saying that she had got the bills for six houses under housing schemes stopped over alleged CONTINUED ON: P4 illegal allotments. WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST YOUR LIFE COACH 28 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) promulgating an ordinance. “Assembly elections are twoand-half years away and such conjecture is far from truth,” the CM added. Minutes after the CM’s office issued the statement, former C M Kumaraswamy took to social There is no truth in speculation over any JDS MLAs joining BJP or its merger with our party B S Yeddiyurappa, Chief Minister Among Oli’s strengths was solid support from the Chinese Embassy He seems to have lost . it now, said sources in the Himalayan country . “There are multiple reasons behind Oli recommending the dissolution of Parliament, but the main problem was his autocratic style as he took all decisions on his own,” said Parshuram Kaphle, a Kathmandu-based journalist. EXPRESS READ Ministry calls meeting on new virus strain New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry has called an urgent meeting of its Joint Monitoring Group on Monday to discuss the emergence of a mutated variant of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom. P7 North India reels under cold wave New Delhi: Cold wave conditions persisted across North India on Sunday, with the national capital recording the season’s lowest temperature of 3.4 degrees Celsius so far. BSY, HDK spike merger talk, but support possible EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE PUSHED to the wall by rebellion within his party, Nepal Prime Minister K P Oli Sharma on Sunday recommended the dissolution of Parliament and snap polls. Shortly thereafter, President Bidya Devi Bhandari complied and announced the general window of April 30 to May 10. According to sources, the im- mediate reason for the dissolution was an ordinance introduced by Oli this month concerning the Constitutional Council that his opponents said will weaken the country’s checks and balances. The Constitutional Council, headed by the Prime Minister has the leader of opposition as one of the members. It recommends appointments to various constitutional bodies. media to make his stand clear. “The Janata Dal (S), which is a party of Kannadigas with selfesteem, will never think of political merger. The party which , is a strong voice of the people, will never display such stupidity he stated and added that at ,” the most, they may extend issue-based support to the BJP if , need be. Terming a merger with BJP as suicidal for the regional party, the former CM said, “I don’t foresee such a sitP4 uation in future too.” Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a roadshow at Bolpur in Birbhum district, West Bengal, on Sunday | PTI New CM to be from Bengal: Shah EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Kolkata SEEKING to take the sting out of the ‘outsider’ barb frequently directed at the BJP by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that the new chief minister after polls will certainly be someone from the state’s soil. “The change in people’s mind is clearly visible. Mamata Banerjee’s misrule will end in the upcoming elections and Bengal will get a new chief minister who is from West Bengal, not an outsider,’’ said Shah. “When you (Mamata) were in Congress and Indira and Rajiv Gandhi visited Ben- gal, did you call them outsiders?’’ he quipped. Without specifying any deadline for implementing the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Shah flagged the infiltration issue and said people will usher in change in the Assembly elections to stop it. “The people of Bengal are unhappy with the infiltrators. They will bring in change to stop infiltration from the neighbouring country Shah said at the end ,’’ of a huge roadshow in Bolpur The TMC can never stop infiltration as it believes in appeasement politics. Only BJP can stop it Amit Shah, Union Home Minister town of Birbhum. He said after the Covid-19 pandemic subsides and the vaccination process is over, the Centre will begin discussions to implement the CAA. Impressed by the large turnout, Shah said it was a reflection of the people’s love for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding he had never seen such a massive roadshow. “2021 will usher in change for the development of Bengal. All BJP-ruled states have already started their journey on the path of development. You gave Congress three decades; communists over three decades; and Trinamool 10 years. Give the BJP a chance and within five years, we will make it Sonar Bangla,’’ he said. P7